Today: I love fall. It's my favorite season, and by far my most creative. In part, the cooler weather makes it easier for me to get stuff done, but this weekend, we took full advantage of our first real "fall" weekend, and I realized: I also just come across a lot more inspiration in autumn.

Friday, we took the boys to the county fair. Youngest liked the animals; oldest wanted nothing but cotton candy and rides. We all rode the dragon roller coaster together (for $16! ridiculous!).

I like the quilt displays (surprise). I also like people watching. The local fair draws an interesting combination of farmers and ranchers, young teens and tweens excited to be "on their own" for the night, middle aged parents like us calming children at various stages of exhaustion and/or tantrum-- and of course the carnies, which is a culture all its own that I find fascinating. All of which, of course, goes in the "future characters" mental file.

Case in point - The group of teens standing around the Ferris wheel: One tall, attractive African American kid; one shorter, kind of geeky looking Latino kid, who was making everyone laugh; and one... white kid in not only a Confederate flag hat, but also matching shirt? How in the world...?? *creative wheels start turning*

Saturday, the male BFF was in town and took us to a football game. The "mighty mighty Razorbacks" (his words, not mine) played Tennessee Tech. Again, there was a fascinating cross-section of society for me to watch between plays, not to mention the weird psychology of people in huge groups, mass marketing techniques, and this hilarious rap song about Arkansas.

Best idea starter: The skinny teenage girl who walked by in a shirt that said "My sport is your sport's punishment," with "RUN LONGER" emblazoned across the back. I didn't have a pen and was afraid I'd forget, but Sunday morning, I woke up with a new character taking shape in my head-- and she's a runner.

The problem? I am not a runner. Ever. But it looks like I'll have to try, for research's sake. Thank goodness it's fall-- this SNI in July might have killed me.

What about you? Do seasons affect your inspiration? Where's the craziest place you've ever found yourself inspired? And most importantly, were you on the track team and if so, do you want to tell me about it? ;)

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I can't think of any crazy places I've been inspired. I was talking to my son's grade 4 class last year about writing and the publishing industry, and came up with an idea for my new wip when we were discussing where I get ideas from. I still wonder if I would have had the same idea for the book if I hadn't done the talk.

I've never thought about a specific season inspiring me in my writing. I would say fall, I guess. Though it isn't technically fall for several more weeks.

I love your inspirations twist on this post! I totally want to go people watch for a day and blog about the ideas. Awesome idea! I vividly recall once driving along and seeing two teenagers walking along the sidewalk. The girl was tall and thin and the boy was short and stubby. She had fire engine red hair. They were holding hands and laughing like there was no tomorrow. Made me want to recreate their pairing in a story somehow. That is all. :)

I love those runner shirts. I did not run track, but I dated a guy who was cross country & wrestling (the things he did to gain/lose weight were terrifying).I need to get better about noticing people around me and getting inspiration from them. I'm in airports all the time-- leaving an airport without some grasp of character is really a crime.Also, I agree that fall is the best! Everything exciting is coming up and the weather gets crazy nice. (oh and that sport happens? that I think you've heard about? umyeah)

I've only been writing for a year now, but last fall was a good time for me. I got a lot of writing done, then winter hit. Ugh, not a good season. I couldn't write anything for a month. Hope that doesn't happen again!

Fall is the best! A nice mixture of cool/warm and the leaves looks so pretty. It's also going to be the time of year my new WIP is going to be set in. Hehe, it's funny how we both got a new idea around the same time.

And I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes people watching. It's always fun to look at somebody and wonder "what's their story?" or "Ooh they'll make a great character."

Fall is definitely my favorite - I was actually just jotting down a future blog post about fall earlier today. I like the cooler weather, the leaves changing, the possibility in the air. I always get more done when it's not scorching hot outside.